History

April 2011 — first iOS version released
December 2011 — updated map styles and support of different languages
February 2012 — MapsWithMe Lite for the App Store (iPhone/iPad), Android Market, Kindle Fire and Android for Amazon Appstore released
April 2012 — MapsWithMe Pro released for iOS
August 2012 — MapsWithMe Pro released for Google Play
November 2012 — bookmarks adding feature released for iOS
January 2013 — 1 million downloads
February 2013 — bookmarks import and export released for iOS
February 2013 — bookmarks adding feature released for Android
March 2013 — bookmarks import and export released for Android
May 2013 — bookmarks sharing released
July 2013 — MapsWithMe API released
November 2013 — import and export of tracks in KML format released
December 2013 — YotaPhone version (e-ink adapted) released
April 2014 — BlackBerry version released
July 2014 — the app's name changed to MAPS.ME, address search added.
November 2014 — route planning added. Acquired by Mail.Ru Group.
December 2014 — the paid version is made available for free ("lite" version dropped)
September 2015 — source code released under the Apache 2.0 license. New map style introduced.
October 2015 — new "drape" graphics library replaced the old one.
January 2016 — 3D buildings and night mode
April 2016 — added in-app map editor
June 2016 — shows hotels from Booking.com

Developer

Small international company MapsWithMe with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, and engineering office in Minsk, Belarus, was founded in 2010.

In 2012 MapsWithMe became first on Startup Monthly — startup competition in Vilnius, Lithuania. The team won a nine-week traineeship in the Silicon Valley, USA, as a prize.[1]

API

Questionable edits

Some users within the community have expressed concern regarding the quality of many MAPS.ME contributions. MAPS.ME provides a low entry barrier for OSM editing, causing an influx of users unaware of rules, guidelines, and conventions (many of which, presumably, never visited this Wiki) and which in many cases aren't even aware that they are contributing to a separate (from Maps.me) crowdsourced mapping project.

Some attribute the low-quality edits to the app's design. For instance, the scope of the edits appears to be unclear for many users, and some assume they are editing their own personal map. Another problem is the limited selection of POI presets, with no ability to map anything which isn't predefined. This causes new mappers to use the wrong tags. tourism=guest_house or tourism=attraction are quite often used as generic markers to tag anything that doesn't fit any predefined preset.

It's not uncommon to see Maps.me contributions which can only be assumed to be personal "bookmarks".

The vast majority of Maps.me contributions are language specific (using name:<lang> instead of name), requiring correction by experienced contributors in order to show up on maps not specific to the language used (if the object previously had no name tag). This behaviour prevents inexperienced tourists from unwittingly overwriting native names, but of course places a bit of a workload on "normal mappers". Experienced contributors can edit the name tag directly by tapping Add a language and selecting the Native for each country option.

YotaPhone

In 2013 developers of YotaPhone, Russian smartphone with 2 displays, requested MapsWithMe to develop a version of the app especially for the e-ink display of the device. MapsWithMe released a special version of the app optimized for both color and e-ink screens of the smartphone.[3]

The main screen allows users to see maps of all world countries, drop pins on the map and find their location. Then it is possible to move the maps to the e-ink display to use the map in the energy saving mode.

Competitors

The main competitors of MAPS.ME are mobile apps that provide offline maps: OsmAnd, City Maps 2Go, 2Gis and others. Possibility to download unlimited number of maps, fast rendering and offline search are among benefits of MAPS.ME.